Brave, Wandering Youth: Adoration
by Caccus
Summary: A young Shen, the prodigious son of the Eye of Twilight and heir to the leadership of the entire Kinkou Order finds a depth to life beyond his expectations when his world is changed by a girl in his Order. Short side chapters released in parallel to the main story to expound on this certain character from Brave, Wandering Youth.
1. Chapter 1

A dozen young men, left alone at in the gatehouse of the Heavensward Gates of Kinxui Hidden Fortress.

The girls had long since been separated to go change into their field gear, where the two halves of the classes would then execute sentry and stealth exercises. The boys, on the other hand, were left in their Xiao'nin uniforms, grey robes and leather padding afforded them both obscurity and durability, mobility and protection, all in one package. They had also long since drawn straws for the unlucky few who would be positioned outside as sentries in the moist, cold outer ramparts.

This was a rare moment for them. They had a spot of free time.

Shen 『慎』, the first or second among them to Seto 『康史』- wait. He meant Zed- depending on the day's results, sat quietly in the corner, his eyes closed. If he had the spare moment, he would sit silently and meditate. Reflect and cultivate his mind, even if it was only for a few moments.

"So." One of the boy started, raising his hand, his palm up as if to offer up this next topic of discussion to the group at large. "The girls in our class."

"Hm?"

"Which one you all think is cutest?"

"Haa? Where'd this come from, you loser?" Another one of the boys groaned at this. "You getting tired of doing it with your hand, Suga?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Shen opened one of his eyes at this. This was a popular choice of topic. The other boys gave groans of exasperation at the start of the topic and acted like they couldn't care less. But he could see the looks of interest amongst the young men at this. Soon their lackadaisical conversation transformed into a heated debate between the boys on their choice of girls and their slight differences in preference.

Good grief. Shen sighed at this. If they had put half as much energy into their training as they did arguing over the ideal nose bridge size on a girl, he and Seto would start to have some real competition at their daily sparring matches.

"Best one's got to be Haine 『海音』 though." The one who started this conversation, Suga, led the charge into this foray of discussion. "She's got like, this coolness to her." That drew a chorus of affirmations from the boys.

Haine… Shen thought back on the girl. The amazon-like girl was nearly as tall as he was, with long, black-brown hair that fell unstyled to her waist. Before sparring Haine always tied that long, long hair up with a clip, drawing more than a few looks from the other boys as she did.

Haine looked pretty enough, he guessed.

But… the girl could be cruel. Shen saw the way she acted and how she well and sweet she treated those she liked and the venom she had in store for those she hated. And the one who got the worst of it all…

The other child of the Triumvirate… Aka Li 『明麗』. The girl was just a bit younger than he was. She was shorter and slighter than him by far, with stiff hair that she constantly had gathered in a ponytail at the back of her head, with little to no effort put into her appearance. Shen saw how the other Xiao'nin ostracized her and Haine was at the forefront of it all. Every sparring season, the girl got beat up by those looking to unseat her assumed inheritance of the seat of Pruner of the Sacred Tree. With what little free time she had, the only person she ever talked with was the other loner in their class, Kou Na 『向娜 』. Despite Akali coming up short when compared to he or Seto, Shen could see the extra-bit of fatigue in the girl's muscles and the weariness in her eyes at the start of each morning's training sessions. If Akali's mother, Master Aka Sou 『明廋』, was anything like his own father who also took a personal hand in his training… her life must be just as strenuous as his.

And yet… day by day… despite her fighting battles on every front... the girl kept toughing through it all. They could hurt her, they could knock her down or run her feet raw and blistered, but neither her classmates nor her mother had truly defeated her yet.

Comparing Akali with Haine… he guess he admired that.

"Sh-?"

"-hen!"

"Earth to Shen!"

" _Wei?_ Anyone there?" Shen felt a rap of someone's knuckles on his skull. There was one who was calling his name. It was Ryo, he thought his name was.

"Hm?" Shen looked up, lost in thought.

"What's your strike zone, pretty boy?" Shen noted Ryo's rueful smile on his face as he nudged him. "Hey, I bet you could even nab Haine if you wanted to, asshole."

"No." It took Shen only a second to recall all of his observations of Haine's actions and to firmly shake his head. Even he though he never thought of girls in an intimate way... he knew he wouldn't want whatever he did to be with Haine.

That got an appreciative, surprised ' _Woah'_ from the crowd.

"Hey, hey, so even Haine's not good enough for you?" Ryo fell back, mock clutching his hand over his heart. How could he blaspheme against their amazon goddess? "Damn, Brother."

"We… see separate things in her." Shen put their differences as lightly as he could. He didn't want to get too caught up in this conversation.

" _Wa-sai_." Ryo threw up his hands in exasperation. "Then who DO you got your eye on?"

Shen noticed the other boys leaning in, curious as to exactly who one of two best in their class was gunning for. At first, Shen felt troubled. Why were they distracting themselves like this? They should be focused on their tasks at hand.

But… out of the corner of his eye… Shen saw something else in a few of their looks. It was nervousness. Fear of him.

Shen knew he was popular with the girls in the class. He could... imagine... their reactions if he ever tried to initiate a relationship with any of them. For most of them, it would be some variation of yes. Perhaps the other boys here were steeling themselves to abandon whatever aspirations they had in store for whoever he named. And now that he thought of it, the vast majority of Kinkou who were raised in the Order also married within the Order. Which meant for these kids, it wasn't just idle talk. They were probably sizing up their future wives and mothers of their children.

A… wife? His wife? Some faceless woman, holding his child? For the rest of his life? That sort of scared him, too.

Shen shook his head.

"I don't think of anyone like that."

There was a palpable, if silent, sigh of relief from a good amount of the boys surrounding him. Part of his reply was a kindness from the stoic boy, but Shen also knew it was partly the truth. He father gave him the Order. And with that gift came the burden of responsibility. Shen didn't have time for anything else.

Ryo wasn't satisfied by this though. The energetic, persistent boy pressed the attack.

"C'mon, Shen, you can't expect us to believe that? Who's been on your mind, huh?"

"No one." Shen replied again. That was the truth. He... thought.

"Maybe it's you, Ryo." A heckler from the side called out.

"Yiran. Fucking die."

Ryo put up his hands. Shen watched the boy approach like he was a wild animal, hands up padding towards him, carefully inching forwards. Shen gave a mental sigh of exasperation at this bout of dramatics. He wasn't going to bolt and run from them. "Alright, how about this, Shen? Who was the last girl in your head, huh? Who was the last one you thought about?"

The… last girl that he was thinking about?

That would be…

"Haine." Shen pat his fist in his hand in affirmation. "When you asked about her just now, I was-"

"Other than Haine, you idiot."

Oh… he was talking about the last girl he was thinking about, that he didn't have a poor opinion of. Shen had to rewind a bit to dig out the play-by-play of his mind. Well, his train of thought was started on Haine initially, and then that led to the kind of person Haine was… which led to exactly who Haine bullied the most… who was...

The Pruner's daughter.

"Akali." Shen replied, perhaps with more honesty than he wanted to. That got another surprised ' _Woah'_ from the circle of boys around him.

"The Eye of Twilight's kid going after the Pruner's, huh?" Ryo took a step back, grinning. The boy held out his hand and one of his friends clasped it. Their innocent schoolkid crushes were still safe if Shen had _that_ girl in his sights. "That suits you, man."

"I-I wasn't thinking of her like that-" Shen started, trying to nip spread of gossip in the bud, but he was cut off by his far more talkative, chatty peers.

"Akali, huh…" Suga put his hand on his chin, thinking on the girl, looking past his general disdain for her performance in class to focus on what really mattered- her surface-level looks. "She might be a screw-up, but she's kinda cute right?"

"Ehh..." Yiran called out. "I think Akali's eyes are kinda far apart. I like Kona more."

"Yeah, Kona's actually real friendly if she talks to you first." Touya noted. "They're both super weird though."

"She just looks a bit like a guy. Akali, I mean."

" _Wai,_ Tomboys are nice though. Ah, but Shen's already called her, huh? I'll leave her to you, Brother."

"I didn't… c-call..." Shen uncharacteristically stammered. This was getting out of hand. Maybe he could steer them back towards...

Steer... back? Back towards what?

 _Wait._

Shen stopped himself right then and there.

Weren't they all here to do an exercise...?

From above and behind, there was the sound of bodies hitting the wooden floor. All of the boys gathered on the ground floor of the gatehouse looked up to the source of the sound- a tall, hulking boy with eyes dark as coals and a gaze that felt hot on the neck and cold in the heart towered over them from above.

It was Seto, known to those he cared to correct as Zed, glowering at them from the floor-and-a-half platform that lead out to the ramparts that they were supposed to have been ready to reinforce for their exercises. And in his hands-

"Idiots." Seto dropped another unconscious body from his hand. It was one of the girls… knocked out and carried around like a sack of rice. Oh shit, the boys looked amongst themselves at the sight. Their exercise had long since started. It looked like it had just finished, in fact.

Seto's gaze burned into each and every one of the boys gathered on the ground floor, so caught up in their idiotic debates that they nearly let the other half of their class slip right past them. Seto, who had been actually one to volunteer to take an outside position, had taken them all out as they approached- by himself. The hulking boy dumped the three girls in his right hand down the platform's short flight of stairs. Haine, Kona and Akali all tumbled in an unconscious heap at the bottom of the stairs. Though the girls hated each other's guts in the waking world, they were as close as sisters in their forcefully induced naps. Undoubtedly the rest of the girls were upstairs, also taking a quick nap.

"Hey, uh…" Suga started sheepishly. "Thanks for covering us, Zed."

"Hmph." Seto simply turned to walk away. Probably to report to Master Khen that their exercises were over.

Back on the ground floor, Shen sighed at himself, chiding himself mentally. It was unlike him to lose track of the situation so easily.

He got up, strolling over to helping the rest of the boys prop the girls up or carry them down from the floor above so they would at least be in one place, in a sitting position and not piled haphazardly on top of one another when Master Khen brought out the smelling salts to wake them.

Shen spared a glance at the girl who was on the bottom of the pile, who was being pulled out by the shoulders by Suga. She had dark hair with just a tinge of brown, gathered in a neat ponytail at the back of her head. Unlike her mother's full, red mouth, the girl's lips were thin and slightly cracked from so much time spent outdoors. Her eyes were closed in unconsciousness, but he knew the kind of look she could give when she was awake. But for now, at least… Akali looked peaceful.

Huh.


	2. Chapter 2

_"The… the Lunar Revel is coming soon. You know only once a year we get to leave the Kinkou Monastery to offer our prayers at the Warrior Saint's Gate…" What the fu— what was wrong with her? She had somehow managed to awkwardly blurt out a few words, but it felt like her tongue had been swapped for a knotted rope._

 _Shen didn't respond. Akali hadn't gotten to her question yet, so he didn't have to, and so he didn't. The stoic boy never was one to spare words._

 _"So after we do, would you like to go with me… to see the festival at the Ing'Xao Village?"_

 _There. Finally. It was out._

 _Shen gave a longer pause this time. He blinked once, and then sighed, before closing his eyes. It was a painfully long silence. It was only until Akali finally turned her head away from embarrassment that Shen finally responded. She could hear the calm in his voice, the passivity, almost as if he was trying to be kind. But it counted for nothing. His words, as they came out, stung worse than any insult._

 _"Sorry. The Lunar Revel may be a rest for you and the rest of the Xiao'nin, but my training resumes as soon as I finish my duties at the Warrior Saint's Gate. I will be training throughout our trip. I don't really have the time."_

 _"Oh… right…" She didn't know what else she was expecting. Of course Shen would be training, even on their Lunar Revel pilgrimage. His was their golden boy. Their heir._

 _"Of course." Akali finally finished. "I'm sorry for bothering you." She felt her face flush, from disappointment, or embarrassment anymore she didn't know. Hell, she didn't care. "I should have known that-"_

 _"It's fine." Shen cut in- not rudely, but curtly. "Well, if that's all then- Please excuse me. I have duties to attend to."_

 _And he left, leaving Akali standing alone there, feeling stupid._

 _Shit._

 _Well, what else did she expect from a boy whose emotions ranged from "barely any at all" to "potato"? What else did she expect from the heir to their Kinkou Order as son of their Headmaster, and heir to the seat of the Eye of Twilight as son of the same? She only succeeded in getting her hopes high enough to be crushed._

 _She sighed._

 _At least Shen could keep his mouth shut, if nothing else. Since no one would ever know about this, Akali could at least go crawl off alone to 'cry' about it later, or more likely beat the ever-loving shit out of some training dummy—_

 _She turned, realized where she was and then froze in blank horror._

 _Ohhh no. Oh no, nonononono._

 _She had turned only to sight upon an entire class of full of Xiao'nin had been training in the courtyard below. Every one of the students was another one of her peers, and she blankly recognized a few of them when she was walking over to confront Shen, but she wasn't conscious of them training below until now. But they weren't training any longer- now they were simply staring. A good thirty pairs of inquisitive teenage ninja eyes stared straight back up at her, to Akali's horror. Even worse, normal people wouldn't have been able to eavesdrop from so far, but these were ninjas in training, who specifically trained to enhance their hearing to extra-human levels. They had almost certainly heard- every—single—fucking-word- she said._

 _Akali gathered herself, held her head high up, and turned and walked away with as much dignity has she could muster up. There wasn't much left. Even now, as she tried to disappear into the Kinkou Castle as quickly as she could, she could hear the faint tones of soft laughter and wicked gossiping that blossomed in the courtyard._

 _"Fucking shit," Akali muttered, wholly dreading with a pit in her stomach her next group instructional session._

* * *

Nine straight takedowns. Surely father would notice.

Master Khen swept Shen off of his feet once more, sending the boy toppling to the ground. Even though Master Khen was the Eye of Twilight, head of the Kinkou Order and one of the strongest martial artists on the Isle, he would have normally scored a least a hit by now. Today, their private sparring sessions were different though.

* * *

" _...Would you like to go with me…" Akali had said, her eyes fixed on his with determination. "To see the festival at Ing'Xao Village?"_

* * *

It was troubling. Shen picked himself from the ground, dusting himself off. He pursed his lips, disappointed. His performance today was unacceptable

"Shen. Is something that matter?" Father spoke to him, concern in his eyes. His father was as perceptive as expected from the Eye of Twilight. Nothing escaped his watchful gaze… least of all, his only son.

Shen shook his head.

"You can't fool me, son." Master Khen reached out to ruffle Shen's hair. "Sit. We'll take a break. My tea should be ready anyhow."

Shen bit lip, thinking. At his father's request, he dropped to the floor, sitting up in _seiza_ position. How could he explain to his father what was troubling him?

Master Khen gave an exasperated smile.

The man strode over to their family's dining room, a small section of their quarters that had been sequestered off from the rest of their rooms. As one of the Triumvirate of their Order, Master Khen was afforded a larger cabin compared to the rest of the Kinkou, though he kept their living space sparse and spartan. Their private sparring area utterly dominated where the guest room should be, leaving only small rooms off to the side for Shen and his rooms.

Master Khen spoke to his son with his back turned, pouring some hot tea into a pair of ceramic cups.

"It's strange, Shen. You're quieter than both Su-Ling and I." Khen gave a small sigh after the mention of his late wife. "But you're just as kind as she was. I'm glad."

* * *

" _I'm sorry for bothering you." Akali had almost spat out, her eyes cast to the side. There was hurt and disappointment in her eyes. And anger, but not at Shen. It was at herself._

 _He didn't really know what to say after that, so Shen left her there, shooting her hopes down and abandoning her. He did not lie. He truly did had no time. But at the same time… he didn't want to hurt her like that._

* * *

Master Khen had taken the seat across from Shen, taking a formal-stance seat just like his son was. The man handed off a steaming hot mug of tea to his son.

"Father." Shen tilted his head, frowning. "How do I apologize to a girl?"

Master Khen took the time to finish his sip of tea before answering.

"Apologize for what?"

"...I'm not sure."

Master Khen sighed, letting the hot air out of his mouth. When his face rose, there was look of horror spreading on his face.

"What... what did you do, Shen?"

There wasn't much else to do about it. Shen explained to him how he was caught at the bridge-way between the main castle of Kinxui Hidden Fortress and their living quarters.

"Ah. So you just got asked out. I guess you're at that age, huh?" Was that relief spreading over his father's face? "Whoever it is, you just have to treat that girl kindly from now on. This happened to your father a lot too. Your continued kindness will heal their wounds."

Shen caught his father smiling. The man suddenly rose, scooting over and taking a casual seat next to him. With one hand, the man kept sipping at his tea, his eyes closed and a small grin on his face. Shen could feel his father's other arm reach around and pat him on the shoulder. "So? Who was this girl? She in your class?"

"Her name is Akali."

Shen heard the sounds of choking.

"Akasou's daughter?!"

"Yes."

Master Khen put his hand over his lower face, his teacup left on the wooden floor by the side, his brows furrowed in deep concern.

"What in..." The middle-aged man muttered.

"Father? Is something the matter?"

"That girl takes more after her father." The Eye of Twilight sighed. For all his watching of Ionia's twin worlds, even he didn't see this coming. "And… how did young Akali take it?"

"Akali?" Shen thought back to a few hours ago. "Disappointed. Hurt. Maybe a little angry, too. She sort of ran away after I turned her down.."

"Is that so. Then I am amending my advice."

"Huh?"

"I know from experience that with women from the Aka clan, there's only one way to truly apologize."

Master Khen bit his lip, his eyes widening. With a start, he turned Shen around, twisting so he was face-to-face with his son and he put both hands on Shen's shoulders, towering over him. Shen felt the weight of his father's hands adding to the weight of his words. "When it came to both Lady Akami and Akase, this was the only method."

"Father? You're frightening me." Just what in the world did Master Akasou do to him put this fear of death that he saw in his father's eyes? They were both Kinkou Triumvirates… which meant they were comrades, right?

"Just do whatever they ask. The next thing they ask is your command."

"Is that it?" That sounded easy enough.

"Whatever request it is. If she is her mother's daughter, it will be reasonable enough."

"I… don't understand?"

"Just do it."

It took Master Khen just three short weeks to regret this advice.

* * *

Three weeks later...

The shouting from the angry schoolmaster at the front of the temple reached a crescendo. The huge man was nearly spitting in Master Khen's face. A few more words, and the schoolmaster grinned, as if he had won some sort of argument, as Master Khen stood still as a statue, implacable through the storm.

The schoolmaster opened his mouth, said only a few words and raised a fist the size of a bucket.

There was only a blur from Master Khen.

And then, the man's face seemed to bulge outwards; he collapsed, falling to a knee. The schoolmaster groaned and vomited clear spit. At this, the schoolmaster's disciples rushed forwards to help their teacher, but the Dai'nin to either side of Khen struck them down with swift strikes over their heads with sheathed swords, sending the disciples sprawling back, crying and clutching their heads.

Master Khen withdrew his hand, flexing it. In an instant, every Dai'nin within the temple flew to the entrance, just as the schoolmaster's disciples started flooding forwards, enraged by the attack upon their master. A small-scale riot erupted in front of the temple, with the disciples attacking with their swords and spears, and the Kinkou Dai'nin beating them back with the scabbards over their swords.

* * *

Shen fell back, watching and analyzing the situation through the peanut gallery of Xiao'nin that were glancing nervously at the erupting melee. Some civilian contact at the entrance of the shrine, it looked like. And his father was in the middle of it all.

There was a commotion at the front and all of the Dai'nin along with Master Khen had rushed to the entrance way, where a small riot was beginning to form. It seemed like one of the local martial arts schools were unhappy about the Kinkou occupying the entire shrine during the festival.

Already, their Chu'nin handlers were corralling them towards the back of the otherwise empty shrine to the Warrior-Saint, but their eyes were focused elsewhere, towards the source of the commotion. They looked amongst themselves, unsure if they should leave the children to assist the Dai'nin and their Eye of Twilight.

"Shen."

He turned to look at the source of the sound. It was Akali, with Kona standing behind her. Kona was behind Akali, pushing Akali's arm forwards as if to offer her hand to him. Were they trying to ditch?

"Let's go see the festival."

Really? Now? Shen thought to himself. The boy felt a brief flash of annoyance cross his thoughts. Of all of the times to go and goof off… Ridiculous.

Shen was about to break his father's advice and turn Akali down again, but the boy saw her eyes.

Despite being shot down by him weeks ago… he still saw that same determination in her look. In the way she spoke. In the way she carried herself. She was insecure, unsure and a self-loather. This was no triumphant coming of age woman. But despite all that... he could see there was still fire in her eyes.

This girl was undefeatable.

Shen didn't know how he felt about the girl in front of her. He didn't know if he could return those feelings. Akali was not the prettiest, nor the most talented, nor the strongest, nor the smartest girl in their class. But he did know one thing.

He admired her courage.

Shen sighed with exasperation. She got him.

"Sure."

And Akali's eyes lit up.

He took her hand and she and Kona pulled him along, sifting through the crowd of junior ninjas towards the nearest pillar to scamper up to the Shrine's rafters.


	3. Chapter 3

At the Mount Hua Competition. The evening of the first day.

Shen was standing on a open-air balcony that lead down the length of the mansion in which they were staying. The moon hung low and full over the sky, lighting up the night almost as bright as if it were the sun.

And in his way, a shadowy figure. Dressed in rags so dark, they blended with his disheveled hair, all that held the man's long, long hair together was a stained bandana. The man's feet were planted in the middle of the balcony by-way, halting Shen in his tracks.

The two stood, silent. Shen watching the shadowy figure carefully while the ragged man kept his eyes fixed to the ground at Shen's feet.

Then, finally, the vagabond spoke.

"...You look like him. Ei Khen." There was an edge of contempt as the man spat out his father's name.

Father? How did this man know him? Shen bit his lip. Was this man here to abduct him? Kill him? Ransom him? Although Father and the rest of the Kinkou were a few buildings down, resting in their quarters, his Shadow Guard were omnipresent. Master Khen's personal men should be keeping watch over the entire palace at this time.

Shen took a step back, his arm drifting up to the emergency whistle at his neck. One blow, and all of Father's elite soldiers would be at his side.

And he would need it. This man was strong.

The man saw Shen's change in stance.

"Strange, how quiet tonight is." The ragged man reached into his robes, pulling out… one of the Shadow Guard's Dai'nin wide-brimmed hats. Black silk embroidered with a golden eye. "All the rats up in the floorboards have gone to sleep."

Shen instinctively lowered his entire body, his hands floating up to his sides. He had to assume that all of Father's Shadow Guards have been incapacitated… if not outright killed. And for anyone to defeat over a dozen of the Kinkou's strongest soldiers without raising the alarm...

This man must be as powerful as Father.

"You don't talk much, do you? I like you better than him already, son of Ei Khen." As the man approached, Shen saw the coldness in the man's eyes melt away. And what was left; was the look of deep-seated rage in the man's eyes. This man wanted to kill him. Badly. And Shen didn't know if there was anything he could do to stop it.

Shen watched the man reached up to put his hand on his shoulder. It was all Shen could do not to flinch.

"...Stay away from the girl."

The girl?

Akali.

"What do you want with Akali?" Shen said, his lips moving before he could control himself. Shit. This was unlike him. Never reveal information to the enemy. "Who are you?!"

"...I should cut that tongue of yours out for using her name." The man seemed to give a single heave of a laugh. It was hard to tell under those rags. "I do like hearing it, though. Akali. Aka... Li... So she gave Akali her family's name instead."

The way he was talking about Akali…and that 'she' referring to… Master Akasou?

It all came together in that instant.

"You're Akali's father. You're of the Tang clan."

The man's glanced at Shen, a flash of surprise crossing the man's face.

Shen knew the Kinkou's history. So he could figure out who this man was, approximately.

Akali was born as a result of the hostage exchange between the Kinkou and the shadowy Tang family, a family of assassins, over control of the Wulin's underworld. She was born from failed peace treaty that ended in their rival's destruction. The only survivors of the entire familial-sect were supposed to have been Tang Seto, who was still held in the Kinkou's fortress-temple as a hostage, and Akali... Daughter of both the Kinkou and the Tang.

And now, a ghost of the past stood before him. Is he here to get revenge? Shen pondered. On me?

Shen took another step back, but Tang-Li followed. The man's eyes were fixed on the him. His mind raced, but no matter what he imagined, he only saw dead ends. There was no escaping this man. He was cornered the moment this man put his eyes on him.

"Tell me, son of Ei Khen." Tang-Li muttered, holding his hand out. Shen saw him slide out twin blades from some hidden bracer on his arm. "My daughter… will she cry after I kill you?"

...Akali?

Shen thought back to the burning rooftop in Ing'Xao village. Her pulling him in for a clumsy teenage-kiss. The feel of her dried, cold-cracked lips against the wind around him. And some strange warmth in his chest.

"...Yes." Shen answered. Truthfully and honestly. Akali was in love with him. As for him...

"You're a good liar, boy."

The man raised his bladed bracer. Shen got ready for a futile last stand. If he had to die, he would die fighting-

Then Tang-Li withdrew his bracer, turning on his heel to walk away. The arm-mounted blades vanished. The former Tang prince put his hands on his hips in resignation. "Even convinced me. Can't risk Akali hating me anymore more than now. Already fucked up my paternal debut, _Tian'ah_ , how am I so bad with women these days, I used to pull'em in with both hands..."

Tang-Li started muttering to himself. Shen took that as a sign that he was in the clear. At least for now. The boy felt a wave of relief wash over him, and a sudden weakness in his legs. Shen had not been this close to death since his fall in the forests and cliffs of Ing'Xao.

But he would not collapse in front of this man. Not him. Not here.

But why…? What did showing weakness to an obviously superior opponent matter? It wasn't logical. This… wasn't like him. What was… this aching in his chest? To prove himself?

"And a last word of advice, boy. Stay away from my daughter. For your own good." Tang-Li fixed Shen with one last glare. "Because if she truly of my blood, then she is of my anger. An anger that will destroy the Kinkou and tear it up from its diseased roots."

"Your 'anger'?" For the destruction of your clan? Akali would never.

"Ask your father. Your Eye of Twilight had a hand in it all. In the Kinkou's betrayal."

Betrayal?

And then Tang-Li slipped away into the shadows, leaving Shen alone on that balcony, in the warm summer wind.

There came from above the sounds of muffled struggling from the crawlspace of the roof above him. That must be a Shadow Guard, bound and restrained.

He needed to retrieve all of Father's now-awakening bodyguards.


End file.
